Panini
A panino (plural - panini) is a sandwich made from a small loaf of bread, most frequently ciabatta. The loaf is often cut horizontally and filled with salami, ham, cheese, or other food, and sometimes served hot. A grilled panino is buttered on the outside and grilled in a press. This all leads up to our latest kitchen gadget, a panini griddle. We purchased a similar tool years ago, but this latest version by Cuisinart has a wonderful feature, dishwasher-safe griddles. This ease of cleaning probably means that panini will appear on our menu more frequently. In addition to the new griddle, we have also been trying out a wonderful bread recipe. The rationale behind the recipe was to find a way to make a large batch of dough, but then to bake it on an as-desired basis. The refrigerated dough keeps for up to two weeks, and is amazingly good considering the simplicity of the technique. We have substituted up to two cups of white whole-wheat flour for the all-purpose flour.
If you aren't interested in baking bread, or purchasing a panini griddle, you can still try the sandwich recipes with any good bakery bread, and a non-stick skillet or griddle by using a weight on top of the sandwich while it cooks.
